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Cubs Acquire Eddie Butler from Rockies

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 02/01/2017 - 3:42pm

The Cubs have acquired 25-year old RHSP Eddie Butler from the Colorado Rockies for 24-year old minor league RHRP James Farris. To make room for Butler on the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster), RHP Dylan Floro (acquired off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays last month) has been Designated for Assignment;

As part of the transaction, the Cubs and Rockies also will exchange 2016-17 International Signing Bonus Value (SBV) slots, with the Rockies acquiring the Cubs #28 SBV slot and the Cubs acquiring the Rockies #74 SBV slot. The difference between the two slots is $211,800 in International Signing Bonus Pool(ISBP) "cap space," meaning the Rockies can now spend $211,800 more in signing bonuses in the 2016-17 International Signing Period (ISP) than they otherwise would have been able to spend without incurring a penalty, and the Cubs can spend $211,800 less than their original 2016-17 ISBP (which was $2,063,200) before incurring a penalty. However, the Cubs are restricted from giving an Intenational free-agent subject to ISBP limits a signing bonus in excess of $300K in the 2016-17 ISP because they exceeded their 2015-16 ISBP by more than 15%, so the loss of $211,800 in 2016-17 ISBP "cap space" probably doesn't matter a whole lot to the Cubs. Colorado has no such restriction in the 2016-17 ISP, however, so adding $211,800 in 2016-17 ISBP "cap space" is obviously seen as a "plus" for the Rockies. Again, this part of the trade involves adding/subtracting ISBP "cap space." No money was exchanged.

About the players...

6'2 180 Timothy Edward "Eddie" Butler was selected by the Rockies out of Radford University in the Supplemental 1st round (#46 overall) in the 2012 draft ($1M signing bonus), taken with a compensation pick awarded to the Rockies for losing FA 2B Mark Ellis. And Butler was a stud MLB pitching prospect right from the gitgo. He was rated by Baseball America as the #6 prospect in the Pioneer League in 2012 and the Rockies #6 prospect after the 2012 season, and his fastball (clocked at 99 MPH at Instructs post-2012) was rated best in the Rockies system in 2012. He was also rated by BA as the Rockies #2 prospect and the #24 prospect in baseball after the 2013 season, and the #3 prospect in the Texas League in 2014 and the Rockies #6 prospect and the #77 prospect in baseball after the 2014 season. He featured a 94-96 MPH fastball (touched 97-99) with sinking action, a plus-change-up, a curve, and a slider back then, offset by command issues. So he was considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball as recently as two years ago (heading into the 2015 season).

Butler had his contract selected and he was called-up to Colorado on June 6, 2014, but finished the season on the DL with a right rotator cuff injury. He has really struggled at the big league level, posting a 6.50 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in 159.1 IP (36 games - 28 GS) 2014-16, and he struggled at AAA Albuquerque 2015-16 as well. His fastball velocity has been down ever since the shoulder problem (blamed on "overthrowing" his fastball after getting called up to the big leagues in 2014), his breaking ball has been flat, and his once plus-change-up has been MIA. His star has fallen to such an extent that he was Designated for Assignment last week (making room on the Rockies MLB 40-man roster for FA RHRP Greg Holland).

Although he has used three minor league options through the 2016 season, Butler is eligible for a 4th minor league option in 2017, so the Cubs can send him to the minors in 2017 without exposing him to waivers. Ideally he would go to Iowa and (hopefully) get both his stuff and his confidence back and get himself ready to compete for a job in the Cubs MLB starting rotation in 2018 (Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, and Brett Anderson are free-agents after the 2017 season). and also be available for a recall if the Cubs need an extra starter at some point in the 2017 season. Maybe Butler just needs a change of scenery (getting out of the "launching pads" in mile-high Denver and Albuquerque can't hurt) and a fresh start (and maybe a new pitching coach, too!). Getting traded to the Cubs worked pretty well for Jake Arrieta, and maybe it will work for Eddie Butler as well. Time will tell.

James Farris was a 9th round draft pick of the Cubs out of the University of Arizona in 2014. He has moved rapidly through the Cubs system and ended the 2016 season as the closer at AA Tennessee (13 saves and a 2.59 ERA, .204 OppBA, a 0.98 WHIP, and 17/74 BB/K in 66 IP combined between Myrtle Beach and Tennessee in 2016). He then pitched very well in the Arizona Fall League (no runs and only five hits allowed with 2/12 BB/K in eight appearances and 10 IP for the Mesa Solar Sox), earning him an NRI to Spring Training. While he doesn't throw particularly hard (low 90's fastball), Farris has a decent breaking ball and outstanding control and keeps the ball down in the zone. He reminds me a lot of RHP Zack Godley (like Farris, a polished college pitcher selected in the first ten rounds of the June Draft), who was sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Miguel Montero trade a couple of years ago. I would not be at all surprised if Farris makes his MLB debut in 2017, and he's the type of pitcher who could do very well in Coors Field.

The fact that the Cubs were able to claim Dylan Floro off waivers last month means no other club put in a claim (the Cubs have last waiver claim priority), so it's very possible that the Cubs will be able to get Floro through waivers now. If they can, Floro will get assigned outright to AAA Iowa and will very likely get an NRI to Spring Training (he was already coming to Spring Training with the big club anyway before he was Designated for Assignment).

PHIL: Since Eddie will be probably working with Rod Nichols out in Iowa, what do you know of this guy? Is Nichols well-liked? Is he on-board with the "Cubs Pitching Way", which I assume is something along the lines of "we will work with your uniqueness and quirks to make you better"? Unlike the former Red Sox Golden Boy pitcher recently discussed, he at least had SOME success in the Minors before the Rockies brought him up.

E-MAN: I don't know a lot about Iowa Pitching Coach Rod Nichols, but all of the Cubs minor league coordinators and coaches are now on the same page when it comes to instruction and player development.
I suspect that either Minor League Pitching Coordinator Jim Brower or Assistant Pitching Coordinator Mike Mason or one of the Cubs "special assistants" (Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, or Ted Lilly) will be assigned to work directly with Eddie Butler as a "Special Project" in Spring Training and at Iowa once his Player Development Plan has been approved, and then Nichols would monitor and supervise Butler on a day-to-day basis during the season.

K-DUB: Eddie Butler's 4th minor league option expires after the 2017 season (it would not be available in 2018 even if it is not used in 2017) - UNLESS - he is injured prior to being optioned to the minors (like if he injures his elbow in Spring Training and has TJS) and spends the 2017 season on the MLB DL. Only then could it carry-over to 2018.

BTW, Jorge Soler's 4th minor league option also is still available in 2017 should the Royals wish to send him to AAA at some point during the season. and (as is the case with Eddie Butler) the 4th option will disappear in 2018 (even if it not used in 2017) unless Soler suffers a season-ending injury prior to being optioned.

Just as an example of how it works, last year the Cubs optioned RHP Andury Acevedo to AA Tennessee during Spring Training, and then he suffered a torn ACL in April and missed the balance of the season. But because he was optioned to the minors prior to suffering the season-ending knee injury, the option year was spent and Acevedo did not accrue any MLB Service Time in 2017. If he had suffered the knee injury in Spring Training and was placed on the MLB DL, a minor league option year would not have been spent and Acevedo would have accrued a full season of MLB Service Time (and he would have been paid $500K+ in salary instead of the $40K+ split salary he received after being optioned to the minors.

Zac Rosscup, Dallas Beeler, and Aaron Brooks each suffered an injury in Spring Training (prior to being optioned to the minors) and spent the entire 2017 season on the MLB DL, so Rosscup, Beeler, and Brooks did not use up an option year in 2017 (and that's why Rosscup, Beeler, and Brooks still have one minor league option left) but did accrue a full season of MLB Service Time (and earned $500K+ in salary instead of the much-lesser minor league split salary they would have been paid if they had been optioned to the minors prior to sustaining their respective season-ending injuries).

Totally off-topic: I just saw Miguel Cabrera mentioned in an article, so I decided look up his stats -- Holy Cow! At age 33, he has 2519 hits and 446 HR, with a career OPS of .961. Seems to be a lock for 3,000 hits and 500 HR. Pretty amazing -- the other 4 to do it: Aaron, Mays, Murray....and Raffy Palmeiro. And yet, you don't hear him talked about very much. Imagine if he played here or in NY.

Dylan Floro is not eligible to be a minor league 6YFA until after the 2018 World Series, so unless he is traded, released, or selected in the December 2017 Rule 5 Draft, he will remain under club control through the 2018 season.

The Cubs presently have 314 players under club control (40 players on the MLB Reserve List and 274 players signed to minor league contracts).
Given the number of minor league affiliates they have, the maximum number of players the Cubs can have under control is 325 (40 major leaguers and 285 minor leaguers), but players who were Signed for Future Service do not count against a minor league reserve list until Opening Day and players on the Restricted List do not count against a minor league reserve list until the player is reinstated, and the Cubs have 24 minor league players who were Signed for Future Service (first contract was for 2017 season) and one player on the Restricted List, so while the Cubs would appear to have only eleven minor league roster slots left open at the moment, they actually have 36.

The San Diego Padres are adding a second AZL team in 2017, the first MLB club with an affiliate in the Arizona League to do that. The Yankees and Tigers each have two affiliates in the Gulf Coast League (the Florida version of the AZL). The Colorado Rockies are the only MLB organization with a Spring Training base in Arizona that does not field a team in the AZL. (All 15 MLB clubs with a Spring Training base in Florida field at least one team in the GCL).

All 30 MLB clubs have at least one affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, and twelve of the 30 (Astros, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, and Yankees) have two. In fact, the Yankees are the only MLB organization with two affiliates in the DSL and two in a U. S. Spring Training complex-based rookie league (GCL), but I would not be surprised if the Cubs become the second one, and (like the Padres), add a second AZL team in the near future.

Cubs minor league first-baseman (and Boise State linebacker) Joey Martarano talks about the Cubs winning the World Series last November, two weeks before he suffered a season-ending broken leg in a football game versus UNLV.

dodgers snag s.romo. their pen is shaping up nicely.
...and now jon heyman says the deal isn't done and romo's deciding between the dodgers and another team.
anything that would make LA weaker works for me. go other team.

HAGSAG: Given Williams Perez's previous MLB experience with the Braves, I would think he would likely get an NRI to Spring Training with the Cubs, and then eventually compete for a job in the Iowa starting rotation.

However, Perez missed the last four months of the 2016 season with a right shoulder injury (rotator cuff strain), so first-things-first he will have to prove that his shoulder is healthy.

"According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, free agent Jason Hammel received a one-year offer from the Mariners with a $10 million option for 2018 earlier this offseason."
yeah...at this point i really wonder what his medicals say about him.
that's a rather low-ball offer in assumed money and years, even for an early offer.
8-10 days until most team's pitchers/catchers report.

wood is supposedly busy negotiating with 4/6/8/29+ offers depending on what rumor you're checking out...multiple ones as a starter.
royals rumors have been hot for a few days. astros, braves, angels, brewers, etc...
he probably won't be a FA much longer, maybe before the weekend ends.

Bears great former 1st Round draft choice Shea McClellan sighting (special teams player for NE). Results in a penalty in the SB for his mis-timed leap on an EP. What a shitty player. Picked by a shitty GM. -EDIT- Who now has a Super Bowl Ring...

That Falcons loss was vintage pre-2016 Cubs. Julio Jones makes a heroic catch, so just run the ball 3 times, kick a medium-length field goal, and win the Super Bowl for the first time ever. Instead, they try to pass, get sacked (WTF?) and a holding penalty. Very rough night be be a Falcons fan.

Remember the Atlanta punt in Q3 where the NE player had to make an over-the-shoulder catch? That was actually a decoy play like the one the Bears (almost) pulled off with Hester a few years ago. My son (who sees everything in these games) noticed that the punt returner ran away from the punt, toward the other sideline. Buck and Aikman and their crew of spotters missed it.

With Hammel and Napoli off the board (and unless the Cubs trade La Stella or Baez before camp opens), it looks like we have a tie in the Predications Content. Congrats to Charlie and Java, who both ended up with 10 points. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MvITe...I'll post an official congrats along with the next contest after camp breaks.

Recent comments

One 2 women umps in MiLB worked the SB series. Pal of our son’s from LL days was SB clubhouse mgr. this year. He spoke highly of Emma’s work but said visiting teams often did not. Also spoke highly of B-Zo on his brief rehab stay when he bought the team McD’s, a la Prez Dollar Menu. So, 2 Cub branches made playoffs so far. Can the big Cubs make it 3?

South Bend won seven post-season games. No team they played won any against them. So the Midwest League Cubs run the table and win the Championship! A couple recurring offensive stars, solid defense and lots of strong pitching did the trick.

home or away for WAS...they can throw scherzer, strasburg, or corbin at anyone down the stretch and still have an ace for the 1-game wildcard.

that should play well into their advantage in the last couple weeks as well as the WC playoff. if the cubs can't luck their way back into 1st it's going to be a hell of a Wild Card if WAS is in no matter who's on top of the WC standings.

the funny thing is, like early-career randy johnson, batters are extremely uneasy in the box when facing him. part of that helps lead to weak contact and Ks...it also leads to walks and HBPs, though...

Cubs MLB Roster:

40 players are onMLB RESERVE LIST(roster is full), plus four players are on 60-DAY INJURED LISTand one player is on RESTRICTED LIST37 players are on MLB ACTIVE LIST, plusthree players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to the minors (one is on RESTRICTED LIST) and one player is on 10-DAY INJURED LIST